After the Haunted: Minecraft Fanfiction
by CaetBWolf
Summary: Drake and Grayson have finally freed Armen, along with the help of a new character, Kathryn. Armen seems to develop a liking for the "new-girl" and isn't afraid to show it. Grayson, however, completely disagrees on having her in the group for some reason. Is it because he can sense a greater power within her? Or is he just plain jealous?
1. Chapter 1

_**IMPORTANT NOTE! In some chapters, this short story will include strong language and some slightly graphic content. Please be sure you meet the age requirements before you continue reading. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

_This also takes place supposably after Armen is freed of Herobrine, and Drake is no longer half-enderman,but is still a mage._

**Kathryn POV**

I blinked open my eyes. Bright lights imeadiately forced me to close them.

"Kathryn, go back to sleep. We're almost home," a comforting voice whispered in my ear. However, I could not obey this command and I lifted my head. A tall, teenage boy, with dark hair and blue eyes was carrying me, while running through a dark jungle. _Ah, I remember now. Drake and Armen defeated Herobrine. We ARE going home. Or what's left of it. _I though fuzzily.

"I see there's no hope of you going back to sleep then, huh?" The dark haired boy, named Armen, muttered as he slowed to a walk. Then he continued, "Do you think you can walk? You were hurt pretty badly, but Drake gave you a regeneration potion to try and heal you." I nodded my head. Armen stopped and carefully set me on my feet.

Another brown-haired man, possibly in his early 20's caught up to us, followed by a golden-blond male, who was a bit younger. The brown-haired one looked at Armen, then me and said, "I can carry you if you need me to." I shook my head, "No, Drake. I'm fine, really." Drake shrugged, "Alright, but Grayson, Armen, and I are all here if you need us. You're the only one who hasn't been recovering as quickly as the rest of us..." The blond man inturrupted Drake, "She said she was fine, didn't she?"

"Grayson, don't be like that!" Armen replied.

"Look, I never wanted to bring her with us in the first place! She's just another burden on the group! Not to mention, she always disappears from camp at night, and if she hunts at all, the food looks as though its been mauled by a bear!" Grayson shot back. Drake shook his head, "She did need our help though. We couldn't have just left her to die! Besides, she helped us defeat Herobrine, isn't that enough?" Grayson just grumbled to himself. Drake and Grayson were both right. I did help them defeat the evil spirit, Herobrine, but I also do disappear at night. I would tell them why, but I don't think they'd be too happy to find out what I am after all they've been through. Armen wrapped his arms across my chest and whispered in my ear, "Come on. They'll get over it quickly, but we all need to get moving." He let go of me and we walked together, following the gravel path through the jungle.

Drake and Grayson did eventually notice we were taking off, and hurried to catch up. For some reason, I had liked the way Armen held me in his arms. It was like having a great, protective wall around me, without any fear of enemies breaking through. I really wanted to act tired again so that he would carry me, but I knew that if I did, Drake would end up carrying me instead. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain shoot up my arm and into my shoulder.

"OW! Fuck!" I shouted outangrilly as I fell against a tree. Armen rushed to my side, followed by Drake, while Grayson stood back.

"What the hell just happened?" Armen demanded, worriedly. Drake set his backpack down and shuffled through it. I grimaced as my shoulder throbbed with pain, "I- I don't know. My arm... it-" I tried to explain, until I was cut off by another shock of pain, making me scream in agony. Grayson almost looked worried for a moment, but that could have been me imagining things.

My eyes watered, and I sank to my knees. My vision blurred, but I could vaguely make out the shape of Drake helping me drink a bottle of water. I greedily drank it in gulps, hardly even noticing the bitter taste at first. My vision started to clear up,and I felt my arm go numb.

"Is that any better?" Drake asked quietly. I nodded weakly, and Armen brushed a strand of hair from my face.

"Its getting dark, we should set up camp," Drake announced. Grayson nodded, "Yeah, good idea," he said and started to put together a campfire.

I was asleep before they group finished cooking some food over the fire. Armen woke me and handed me some wild chicken. I ate it in a few bites, not even paying attention to whether it tasted good or not. When I was done, I curled up in my sleeping bag. Armen dragged his up next to mine.

"How are you feeling?" he whispered as he layed down in it. I groaned a bit in response, but manage to rasp, "A bit better." Armen nodded, "Good, good." He rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm over my chest, sending pleasant chills through my body. Armen rested his head on my sleeping bag and began to snore softly. I heard a small snicker come from Drake, and heard him whisper to Grayson, "Aren't they adorable?" Grayson snorted crankily in response. That was the last thing I heard before I drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

IMPORTANT NOTE! In some chapters, this short story will include strong language and some slightly graphic content. Please be sure you meet the age requirements before you continue reading. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

This also takes place supposably after Armen is freed of Herobrine, and Drake is no longer half-enderman,but is still a mage.

Morning seemed to come too quickly, and I didn't want to open my eyes. When I finally did, I turned my head to find Armen still snuggled up next to me and snoring. The fire was in ashes, and soggy from the moring's dew combined with the damp air of the jungle. Drake was already up and digging through his backpack. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Morning," Drake greeted me warmly. "How are you feeling?" I stretched, and was suprised to find my shoulder no longer hurt, but was a bit stiff from not using it. "Much better, thanks to you," I replied. Drake chuckled, "Yeah, Grayson just headed out to go fishing. He should be back soon."

I layed back down, and noticed Armen's eyes were open.

"Shhh..." he hissed, and grinned at me. Armen wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close to his chest. I relaxed, happy to have someone at least who wanted to be close to me. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I easilly drifted in and out of sleep for a while longer, as Drake fiddled with things in his backpack.

Close to midday, Grayson returned with a bucket full of fish. He set them down, and looked over at Armen and I. "Well, get up would you! I brought some food while you lazy people stayed at camp," he said, louder than he needed to. I blinked tiredly. Armen stretched out in his sleeping bag, and sat up. "Come on, we should help," He said, yawning. I nodded, and climbed out of my sleeping bag.

Suddenly, an image flew through my head. It was of me, laying under some bushes, appearing to be bleeding heavilly. I snapped back to reality, and felt a strage sense of rememberance. Had that actually happened? It felt familliar, but I couldn't remember why. I decided to ignore it. It was probably nothing.

Once all the fish was cooked, and most of it was eaten, we packed up and started to head out again. Luckilly, we finally reached a town, with a few inns in it.

"Damn, I wish we had know this was here sooner. We could have stayed at one of the inns!" Drake said, disappointed. Grayson shook his head, but said nothing.

In the town, their were many shops. Drake found a Mage shop and bought a few good potions, while Grayson bought supplies at another. I happened to stumble across a shopping tent, when something caught my eye. Hanging on a chain in the back of the tent was a beautiful orb, that reflected an amazing blue light.

"Wow..." I breathed. "How much for that?" I asked the shopowner. The man pointed to the orb and said, "10 Florin." That was a lot for the gem, but I wanted it so badly for some reason. "I'll take it," I said, and handed the man a Sovereign and wanted patiently as he made change.

When I finally caught up with the rest of the group, I showed them the orb, which I wore around my neck.

"WOAH! Where did you get that? And for how much?!" Drake exclaimed. I grabbed it and said, "It was in one of the shops for 10 Florin."

"10 FLORIN! No way! It had to be more than that!" Drake continued excitedly, "Don't you even know what it is?" I shook my head, "No, I just wanted it because it was pretty." Drake gasped, "That's a Blue Stone. It gives the wearer the ability to breathe underwater!" I took a step back, shocked then said, "Cool!" Drake calmed down a bit.

"I'm surprised you found that for only 10 Florin. From what Drake says, I'd of sold it for at least a Marque," Grayson explained. Armen walked up to me and put an arm around my shoulders, "At least she got it. It sounds awesome!" he said. Drake nodded, "We can talk about it more later. Right now we should get our own rooms in one of the inns or rent a small cottage for the night. Most of them are pretty cheap around here."

We all ended up finding two cottages that were fairly cheap to rent out, and decided to stay the night, Drake and Grayson in one, and lucky for us, Armen and I could stay in the other. We all said our good night's and headed into our separate cottages.


	3. Chapter 3

**IMPORTANT NOTE! In some chapters, this short story will include strong language and some slightly graphic content. Please be sure you meet the age requirements before you continue reading. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

_This also takes place supposably after Armen is freed of Herobrine, and Drake is no longer half-enderman,but is still a mage._

_**This chapter also contains cheesy material. DON'T JUDGE MY AWESOME INTERESTS! XD**_

"Kathryn, wake up. Drake and Grayson are outside, and they want to leave," Armen's voice inturrupted my sleep. I blinked open my eyes, squinting as the morning light hit them. Slowly, they started to focus, and I found Armen sitting on the edge of the bed, with his hand in my hair.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered and bent his head to kiss my forehead. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him closer. He instantly flopped over next to me and we kissed.

I wasn't sure how long we spent kissing, but a sudden gasp came from the doorway. Drake stood there, covering his eyes, "Oh- um, sorry. You were taking a while, so- um- I'm gonna... go back outside." Armen stared at the doorway as Drake disappeared back outside. His face turned beet-red, "Well... that was embarrassing..." he muttered. I was embarrassed too, and I felt my ears become very hot.

Armen stood up off the bed, and put his shoes on. "Come on, you better get dressed. I'm going to go outside and try to convince my brother to not say anything," he said. I sat up, holding the sheets to cover myself. Once Armen was gone, I slipped into my clothes, and grabbed my backpack.

Outside, Drake, Armen, and Grayson were all ready to go. Grayson hrdly looked at me, but I caught a glimse of his face, and he looked completely outraged. Armen noticed this too, but ignored it and walked just next to me, to block my view. We slowly headed out of the village, and back into the wild forest beyond.

None of us said much for a long time. It wasn't until noon that Grayson finally asked,"Can we stop and rest for a bit?" Drake nodded, and set his stuff down on a large, flat stone. He unpacked some dry food and handed us each a little bit. The food tasted a bit like fish, and I realized it was some left over fish we had dried out to make jerky.

"I hope that we can reach my old camp by noon tomorrow, if we keep up the swift pace. We better keep moving if I am to be right," Drake announced once we were finished. Grayson nodded his head, but remained silent. I leaned over to Armen and whispered, "What's up with him? Grayson seems so... Pissed..." Armen shook his head slowly, "I don't know. Ever since you joined the group, he's been like that," he whispered back. "Maybe he- no, that's not like him," Armen continued, but wouldn't say what he obviously wanted to.

"What? Tell me!" I whispered back, louder than I should have.

"Tell you what?" Drake called. Armen answered before I could, "It's nothing, just stuff..." Drake started to grin, but stopped himself so that he wouldn't embarass us. "Oh, ok then. Let's get moving."

I could hardly handle the suspense. Armen knew something and he wouldn't tell me! I thought about what he said, '_Maybe he- no, that's not like him,' _I repeated the words to myself in my head, trying to comprehend what it meant. What's not like Grayson? It seemed obvious that he wanted me out of the group... Or did he? Suddenly, I felt a huge zap, as though I had just been struck by lightning, and Everything around me vanished into black.

Slowly, a circle of light appeared at the edge of my vision. I reached out for it and it exploded around me, showing me a room. A room? _'What is this place?' _I thought. I turned around to find to people in bed, snuggling in the sheets. I tried to look away, but my feet felt glued to the spot and my eyes were locked on the two people. Suddenly, I recognised them. A blond-haired one, and a brown haired one. The blond one was unmistakably Grayson, and the brown one... _'No way! That can't be me! But-'_ I watched as they touched noses and whispered to eachother. Grayson looked up and stared directly at me. Everything faded, except for his eyes, and I realized, they were real. Grayson stood staring at me with wide eyes, almost horrified. The real world came back around me, while Grayson still stood there.

"No... You saw that too?! But how-" Grayson stumbled for words.

"Grayson, What. Happened," Drake demanded. Grayson shook his head, still terrified, "I don't- she- Kathryn just- SHE READ MY THOUGHTS!" Grayson backed away, "Ok, I'm used to all the craziness of monsters, and spirits, but what ARE you?!" He said, almost shouting.

Armen looked at me puzzled, but not as frightened, while Drake looked at me as if he knew what was going on. "I- I don't know, I'm just as confused as you!" I replied. Drake answered our shared confusion, "You're a Cynanthrope, aren't you? That's why you disappear at night and just sensed Grayson's thoughts!"

"What. The. Hell. What is a Cynanthrope?!" Grayson exclaimed. Drake continued, strangely calm, "Cynanthropes are people who can turn into dogs, and some have the abilty to read other's thoughts, just like how a real dog can sense your emotions. I don't know much about them, but I do know that, and that they turn into a dog that resembles their human appearance." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Drake knew what I was? He even knew more about my abilities than I did it seemed!

"Get out of here! We can't have her in our group! What if she attacked us?" Grayson said, now shouting.

"Calm down, Grayson. She's a dog, not a bear. Not a wolf. Like I said, Cynanthropes reflect who they are as a human. Think about it. She's pretty, she's smart, she's fast. I'd say she makes for a good dog!" Drake replied, with a hint of humor in his voice. At least someone was taking this well. Grayson relaxed the slightest bit, but still stood a bit ridged. "Well, that doesn't change the fact that she can read our thoughts. I certainly don't want her poking around in my brain!"

"I didn't 'read your thoughts' on purpose! I was just walking, and I imagined what you were thinking! I really didn't mean to do it..." I desperately muttered to him.

"Jeez you really are a dog. You're whimpering," Armen whispered in my ear. I ignored him and continued, "It's not just the fact that I read your thoughts that surprises me, it's WHAT I saw."

"NO, don't you DARE tell them, or I swear..." Grayson started, but Drake cut him off, "Ok, ok, let's just calm down. I'm sure Kathryn can keep what she saw to herself. We really need to get moving. Can't you guy's figure this out while we walk? I understand it, but you guys are the ones who need to work it out." I looked at Drake and shrugged, "Fine, but you're going to have to tell us how you know all this."

"Yeah, how DO you know about... Cynanthropes..." Armen agreed.

"I spent a little time in the Magic Library. I came across a book about all kinds of shapeshifters. I didn't think it was very useful at the time, so I didn't read much into it," Drake replied.

"I don't remember that..." Grayson said suspiciously. Drake nodded, "That's because it was while we were split up. It was a long time ago." Grayson didn't say anything else.

The walk was long and tense. Armen stayed towards the front of the group, muttering back and forth with Drake, while I was stuck behind them with Grayson staring suspiciously at me. Finally I broke the silence, "You're jealous, aren't you?" I asked.

"Of what? You being able to turn into a dog? Hell no! That's weird..." Grayson replied. I shook my head, "No, of me and Armen. What I saw was-" Grayson cut me off, "What you saw was nothing, ok?! It was just a thought. Nothing else..." I squinted at him, "I know what I saw, why where you thinking about that? Me and you..." I persisted.

"You know what, fine. Ever since you joined the group, I've liked you. More than a group member I mean. It's like Drake said, you're smart, you're nice, and heck, you're amazingly beautiful," The last part he said like he was really in love with me, but then his voice hardened again, "And of course, as soon as ARMEN was rescued, he stole you away! You started talking to me less and less. We stopped laughing together... All because you had to fall for him instead," his voice dropped to a depressed mumble, "All I wanted was to be with you. The minute Drake told me what he saw in that house... My heart... It just... Shattered..." Grayson looked away, and I could sense he was trying desperately not to cry.

"Look, I'm sorry, but-" I started, but Grayson cut me off... Again, "No! You're not sorry! You're perfectly happy with Armen! I can tell you, I KNOW what it is. He just seems _'oh so perfect'_ with his black hair, his blue eyes... And here I am, blond, with green eyes. An average everyday person with no real life!" I suddenly realized how painful it must be for him. I myself have experienced this, far too many times.

"Grayson, you know that's not true! You just don't know anyone other than me," I tried to calm him down. He hung his head, "I know, but it's just. Not. Fair." I felt like putting my arm around him to make him feel better, but I knew if I did, he would shrink away, and end up being more angry. Instead, I remained silent, and continued walking. Eventually, it became to dark to go any further, and we set up camp. I slept, but in small, nightmare filled dreams. It was going to be a long, long night.

Image of what Kathryn would look like as a dog: Just search for "Brown Border Collie" on Goolg images

Read more about Cynanthropy: WIKIPEDIA


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Moonlight gleamed through the lightly cloud-covered sky. I layed on my back, watching the clouds drift lazily across the moon. Around me, the rest of the group was asleep, and Armen was next to me, snoring. Every once in a while Drake would mutter something or Grayson's expression would become scrunched as though he wasn't having a pleasant dream. There was no sense in waking him, as he probably wouldn't appreciate waking up to me after what happened earlier today.

I thought about yesterday, and how quickly the truth about what I was had come out. Drake seemed to have already know that I was a Cynanthrope, and Armen seemed a little disturbed, but took it otherwise, pretty well. I really wanted to know how Drake had known about my abilities, but there would never be a good time to ask him, it seemed.

Bright moonlight shown down on our camp as a cloud floated away. I felt a strange calm inside me as I stared, dazed by the light. Suddenly, I realized I felt a strange tingling sensation in my feet. I tried to ignore it, but it crawled up my legs, and into my arms. I knew what was happening, and it wasn't lack of blood circulation. I quietly slipped out of my sleeping bag and tiptoed away from the camp. I didn't stop until I reached a large river. A few stones lay on the bank, and the water slowly flowed down a slope. I took off my shirt, and my pants, folding them neatly and placed them on one of the stones. I dipped my toe into the water and shivered.

Slowly, I became used to the cold and walked into the river until it was deep enough to swim in. I ducked my head under for a moment, relishing in the relaxing, cool feeling. For a while I floated gently around, but swam back towards my clothes to make sure I didn't get lost downstream. Then it hit me. A painful shock in my arm, just as it had a couple of days before. This time, I shoved my face underwater to muffle my cry of pain. I felt both my arms become tight, and my legs unintentionally bent. I desperately tried to swim to the shore, and succeeded in grabbing hold of the bank to haul myself out of the water.

Slowly, and painfully my back felt crushed, and the breath was driven out of me. Brown fur began sprouting from my arms and legs, and white fur grew from my chest and neck. I clenched and unclenched my hands into fists, gritting my teeth in pain. My back heaved as my tail grew. After what seemed like forever, I had fully shifted into a dog. _'Years and I still haven't gotten used to that!'_ I thought angrilly. I stood up and padded into the woods towards the camp.

I stayed out of sight of the group, even though they were all still asleep. There was no sense in letting them see me like this, even if they already knew what I was. I turned away from the camp and padded into the deeper woods.

Everything was dead silent. Not a bird chirped, and not even a night frog croaked. The only sound there was the soft crunch of leaves under my paws. I stopped and looked up through the tree branches. The moon had vanished, blocked by a cloud. I glanced at my paws, and huffed a sigh. Never had I met another of my kind, and it was very unlikely that there were many. This led me to realized how small and lonely I was in this world.

Suddenly, a branch broke behind me. I flinched and whipped around to find a dark shadow of a man. I snarled, startled by the stranger, and worried they could be a threat.

"Kathryn? Is that you?" A voice came from somewhere next to me. The shadow seemed to turn it's head, then dashed away into the woods.

"Hey! Who's there?!" the voice called after it. I barked and raced after it. The man was surprisingly fast and it took me a long time to catch up to him. I lunged and bit down on what seemed to be it's neck. As though it were made of glass, the shadow shattered and the peices sank into the dirt. _'Dammit!'_ I thought angrilly. I was chasing my imagination.

Somehow, I couldn't get over the fact that the shadow seemed so real. Something just didn't seem right about it. I remembered the voice that had called me, and ran back to where I was.

It seemed like I had been running forever, and I thought I must have passed the spot. But an orange glow was shining through the trees, and I padded in the direction of it instead. The light seemed to be a fire, and I half-hoped it was people, while at the same time I hoped it was actually just a town.

I finally reached the source, and it turned out to be Armen, holding his hands over our campfire.

"Kathryn! That is you!" he hissed at me. I backed into the trees a bit, out of sight. Armen reached out, "Wait no! Come back." I stayed where I was and watched as Armen stood up and walked over to me. He stood about a foot away from me, but still couldn't see me. That's when something quite unexpected happened. Armen's eye's began to glow brightly. Their color: Pure white.


	5. Chapter 5

I crouched where I was hidden, hoping I could stay out of sight. But Armen's glowing eyes turned to look directly at me. He blinked slowly, then said, "Don't worry. Herobrine is gone. But if you come out of that bush, I can tell you what's going on." I backed a bit further into the bush, but didn't make it far when I felt something blocking my way. I turned to look, but there was nothing there. It was as though an invisible wall were blocking me from escaping!

"Please, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want you to understand, just like how I understand your Cynanthropy," Armen begged. I peered through the branches and noticed that his eyes had stopped glowing. I slowly padded out into the open, ready to run if Armen did anything that could be threatening.

"Why don't you go shift back, and we can go someplace else and talk?" he suggested. I blinked gratefully at him and raced back to where I had left my clothes.

Armen was still waiting for me when I got back. I looked him in the eye and said, "You better tell me what the hell just happened to you. I thought you were FREE of Herobrine COMPLETELY!" We started into the woods where no one would here us.

"When you, Drake, and Grayson freed Herobrine from me, and destroyed him, I was left with some of his power. Its kind of like how Drake became half-enderman when he took some of Herobrine out of me," Armen began to explain.

"So, what kind of powers do you have?" I asked. Armen shrugged, "I'm still learning about them every day. So far I can control little things with my mind, or see in the dark. Sometimes I can see things that you guys can't." See things that we can't? '_What?'_ "What kind of things do you mean?"

"Like, creatures that can turn invisible, or camoflaged doors. It's like I said, I still don't know much about them, and I try to practice using the ones I do know about at night. For an example, I might try to make a pebble float, or a bird freeze in flight," Armen continued.

"Freeze in flight? Wait, so when I could back out of the bush, that was you stopping me from leaving! You can't use your powers on me! I mean, I try not too use mine on you..." I said. Armen nodded slowly, "I understand, and yes, that was me. I'm sorry. I just wanted you to know." I could hardly believe what I was hearing. That meant everyone in the group, except Grayson, had some kind of power or powers.

I thought about what Armen had said. If he still didn't know all about what he was capable of, wouldn't that make him kind of... Dangerous?

"I- I'm going back to camp," I announced. Armen nodded, "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow then."


	6. Chapter 6

**The Long Awaited, Chapter Six**

**You're Welcome xD**

Dawn light broke through the branches of the trees, spilling golden light onto my face. I blinked open my eyes, and glanced around the camp. Everyone had already left, except for Drake, who was packing his bag. He turned to me and said, "Everyone has already started to scout ahead. You can go on ahead and look for them, and I'll catch up in a bit." I sat up and stretched, "Ok, I'll pack up I guess."

I rolled up my sleepingbag and stuffed it inot my backpack, not really tryng to be neat, but efficient. Quickly, I spotted Armen and Grayson treking down the path.

"Hey Kathryn, come on, I see a village!" Grayson called to me. He seemed oddly in a better mood this morning, after what happened the day before.

"Uh... Okay... Coming!" I called back, and sped up to a jog. Once I had caught up, I took my place next to Grayson, purposely veering around Armen. If he noticed, Armen showed no sign of caring. _'Did he actually not notice, or is he just ignoring me as well?'_ I wondered to myself. Grayson pointed to a building in the distance, "That must be the Red Keep! The people must have been really busy lately," he observed, and Grayson was right. The Red Keep DID look like it had been being reconstructed. I simply nodded, when suddenly, I had an idea.

I knew I wasn't supposed to use my powers on my friends, but I wanted to test them out so badly. Carefully, I focused extremely hard on Grayson, trying to make out any words that he was not saying.

**'**_**...get there fast enough, maybe we can sell some stuff. Perhaps we can stop for lunch? I wonder what Kathryn likes to eat... I was kind of hard on her yesterday... Where's Drake, he's taking forever... Cookies...' **_I did it! _'Those thoughts were definately Grayson's!' _It was as if he spoke the words aloud, but Armen showed no sign of hearing him. I realized I was grinning espescially hard when I thought I heard Grayson say something, "Kathryn? Stop that." I looked at him, but Grayson had not turned his head to look at me. I stopped walking. _'Did he sense I was listening to his thoughts?' _Armen and Grayson stopped as well, and turned to face me.

"Are you coming?" Armen asked, slightly impatient.

"Sorry, I just thought I heard something." Armen shrugged, and continued walking, but Grayson waited for me. I hurried to him, and he asked, "You were doing it again, weren't you." I nodded slowly, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if I could do it at will." I looked around and spotted Drake heading towards us. "Drake's coming, we should get moving," I continued. Grayson looked directly into my eyes, and something melted inside me. He really did care about me, and I had ignored it.

"Hey guys! Wait up!" Drake called. We turned to face him, and waited for him to catch up.

"Sorry, I had to pack up camp," he explained quickly, panting as though he had run most of the way. Grayson shrugged, "Its okay. Armen went ahead, so we better catch up to him." Drake nodded and we head off in the dirrection Armen had gone. _'This is going to be a long day...'_


	7. Chapter 7

The walk to the Red Keep seemed to take forever. No one spoke much, but I did notice one thing, Grayson was walking closer to me than normal. I didn't really notice until his hand 'accidentally' brushed mine. I felt an odd tingling on the back of my neck, as though the hairs were sticking straight up._ 'That's what usually happens when I'm around ARMEN! Why do I feel it now?' _I wondered, nervously.

Drake seemed to notice the difference in our behavior, and frowned. Why did he seem disappointed? It wasn't like I LIKED Grayson... We were part of the same group, that's all. Still, I felt an odd fluttering sensation in my gut.

Finally, we did reach the Red Keep, and it was almost night. A few early stars had begun to peek through the sky. _'Its so quite here.'_

"Come on, guys. We should find a place to stay the night, and get something to eat. I'm starving!" Grayson announced. I nodded in agreement. Drake led us to a nice place where we could each rent our own room.

"This place is nice. Are you sure we can afford it? I asked Drake carefully. He nodded, "Yeah, I just talked to the owner downstairs and they said it shouldn't be too much for the four of us. There's even enough rooms for each of us to _have our own room_," Drake finished with a very serious tone. It was as if he thought sharing rooms was a bad idea after what happened at a previous village.

I tried not to remember that night with Armen. Now, it seemed so far off as though a month had already passed, when it had only been a week ago. Part of me regretted what happened, but I couldn't figure out why. Right now, all I knew was I was angry at Armen for not telling me about his powers, and that he could be a potential threat if Herobrine wasn't completely gone from him.

We all paid the innkeeper and took our own separate rooms, eating alone tonight for the first time since we all met. It was kind of lonely, but I tried to ignore it. One night wouldn't be that bad.

Eventually, I layed down in my bed, exhausted from the walk. Soon, my eyes began to close, and started to drift to sleep.

Nightmares wracked my brain that night. Dreams of fire, and running from something I couldn't see. Even one where I was burning in lava. Only I didn't feel like it was ME that the dreams were about.

My eyes flashed open, and I sat up in bed. _**'it was just a dream...' **_Grayson's voice whispered in my head. Grayson's voice? I looked around the room, and even though no one was in it, I still heard Grayson's district voice. 'Am I hearing his thoughts again?' I wondered. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed out of my room and into Grayson's. Sure enough, Grayson was leaned up on the back of his bed muttering to himself. He looked up when he saw me.

"You having nightmares too? " I asked. He nodded. Quietly, I crept up to his bed and slipped in next to him. At first, he seemed shocked, but then he began to relax, and I asked, "I'm getting them too. But I'm sure they'll pass," I whispered to him. He smiled a bit, but his expression moved to an almost sad look. He gazed into my eyes, and I suddenly felt cold fingers run up my neck and comb through my hair.

"I don't think you'll ever understand how much I care about you," he whispered so quietly I could hardly hear him. I looked down for a moment, and the back at him, and his face softened. I scooted a bit close to him, and he wrapped his arm around me, his hand still combed through my hair.

I felt a little uneasy being so close to Grayson, but I remembered that things were not going to well between Armen and I. I gave in and wrapped my arm around him. Eventually we both drifted back to sleep, uninterrupted by dreams.

Early the next morning, before anyone else had awoken, I crept back to my room. I made it to the door of my room, when suddenly I heard a gasp. Standing a few feet away, Armen had just left his room.

"No no! Its not what you think! I just... We were... I had a bad dream... And Grayson... He did too, " I tried to explain, but everything was coming out all wrong. Armen just stood, staring at me, unable to speak. Finally, he glared at me and only said, "Fine," and he turned around and went back into his room.

I sat down on my own bed. What did I just do? I stained to focus on Armen's room, and managed to find a wave of emotions coming from it. Anger, sorrow, confusion. All mangled up in a huge mess. That's when I realized what was happening. Armen was CRYING.


	8. Chapter 8

I fell onto my back, the mattress of my bed bouncing from the force. Now what? I've just broken my really close friend's heart, and he was in his room, crying. That's when I realized that maybe Armen hadn't been avoiding me. Perhaps it was all my fault? '_No, because he wouldn't talk to me yesterday, and seemed angry then too.' _I rolled onto my stomach and hid my face in my pillow. But what about Grayson? I had him. He seemed to be getting over our quarrel.

I reached out to Armen's room again, to find that the wall of emotions had reduced to a faint flicker of anger and sadness. I sat up and dangled my legs over the edge of the bed. Everyone else would be getting up soon, so why not get ready to leave.

I went downstairs where I asked to get a bucket of warm water. The innkeeper quickly brought me a steaming metal can of water, and I took it back up to my room.

Locking the door behind me, I set down the bucket. Quickly, I took off my clothes, wrapped a given robe around me, and one garment at a time, I dipped them in the water and rinsed them off.

After I had finished and wrung them out, I hung the clothes on a rack near the window to dry. A knock at my door announced that the others had woken up, so I opened the door. Drake stood in the doorway, and he almost chuckled when he saw me in the robe.

"I'm guessing you need another minute then? Or two." he asked. I nodded, and replied, "Yeah... I kinda decided to wash my clothes NOW. I guess I should've done that last night..." Drake didn't hold back his snort of laughter this time, "That's what the rest of us did. Come down when you're ready, and we can get something to eat before heading out again. We're pretty close to the way out of this place." I was shocked to realize that we were so close to the portal that brought Drake, Armen, and Grayson into this world. I had no place to go here, and I had agreed with the rest of them to return to their world with them.

Drake turned and went down the stairs, stopping for a moment midway to glance over his shoulder and grin. I closed the door and walked back to my bed. Strangely, my clothes were dry and folded neatly together. _'Drake...' _I thought to myself, my spirits lifting at the kind gesture he had left. Drake must've used his powers to finish the clothes.

I slipped into my jeans and pulled on my t-shirt and sweater, grabbing my backpack before heading out the door.

Everyone was waiting for me when I got downstairs, and the innkeeper was just putting some scrambled eggs and toast on a table for them.

"They serve breakfast!" Grayson said excitedly. I grinned and took my seat next to him. Armen was undoubtedly making it a point not to make eye contact with me. I tried my best to ignore it, and enjoy my breakfast, which I couldn't deny, was extremely delicious.

As soon as everyone had finished, Drake handed the innkeeper some coins, thanking him for his hospitality, and the innkeeper cleared our plates.

"That was the best thing I've eaten in FOREVER!" Grayson sighed contentedly. I agreed, and Drake nodded while Armen continued to stay silent. If anyone noticed, they were trying hard not to call him out on it.

"Anyway, let's get out of here. We're SO close to our destination," I said excitedly. I really wanted to know what the guys' world was like, and how different it would be. Drake stretched, and we all grabbed our things and headed out the door. It was time to go to my new home!


	9. Chapter 9

Days passed, almost a week, until my group did find the place about where the portal was. A gravel path led to a cave, which we quickly decended into. Despite the dampness of the air in the cave, the temperature was actually quite pleasant. It was easy to navigate as well, for torches lined the walls, giving off enough light to see clearly what lay ahead.

Eventually, we came to a dead end, though something seemed off about it. The floor changed to a neatly carved stone, almost like bricks, but more compact. I looked close at the wall that lay in front of us. There appeared to be a circle protruding from the wall, about two hands in width. I noticed strange designs had been carved into it's border. They looked as though they were in some foreign language, possibly ancient elvish. Grayson brushed the carvings with his had and sighed.

"Its closed. There's no way through," he observed. Drake gave a small gasp and raced up to the structure.

"No... No this can't happen... The portal CAN'T be closed!" he spoke, desperation creeping into his voice. I looked at Armen, who seemed to be thinking very deeply. I attempted to reach into his thoughts, but it seemed like there was a wall blocking my way. He squinted at the portal, but only shook his head, and said, "Maybe someone will know how to translate the carvings? We should go back into town and ask some people." Drake spun around quickly, and, nearly shouting, said, "This is an ANCIENT manuscript! Who will know how to translate it? Anyone who could, is probably dead!" I suddenly noticed Grayson kneeling in front of the portal, looking down at the floor.

"Grayson?" I whispered.

"We're screwed. We are so screwed..." he muttered, visibly shaking. I walked up behind him and stroked his hair. He looked up at me, his eyes sparkling with sadness and anger.

"What are we going to do?" Grayson whispered.

"Right now, we need to get back to a town," I answered quietly. I started to say something else when a loud thud came from the other side of the cave, followed by and angry shout. Everyone turned their heads to look at Drake, who appeared to have just punched the wall. Again, he threw his fist against the cave wall, surprisingly sending cracks up it.

"Drake..." Armen started to speak, but Drake's fists began to glow dark purple and whipped around, eyes glowing the same dark purple. He gritted his teeth angrily and shot a ball of purple flame at the opposite wall, forcing Armen to jump out of the way will a shout of surprise. Grayson stood up and yelled at Drake to calm down. Drake ignored him and growled in rage, clenching and unclenching his fists. Just as he was about to shoot another fireball, I quickly morphed into a dog, pouncing on him. Drake fell to the ground, and writhed under my weight. I held him down, my front paws on his chest. I snarled in his face, only succeeding in getting another angry shout from him.

"Get OFF me you crazy mutt!" Grayson raced to my side and grabbed Drake's flailing arms. He grunted, struggling to free himself. Slowly, his eyes faded back to their original color, and he stopped writhing. Armen simply looked on in shock. I morphed back, and stood up, my clothes sagging the slightest bit from being stretched out. Grayson let go of his arms, and Drake sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"Argh, my head..." he muttered. "That really did happen, didn't it?" I nodded, "What WAS that?" I asked. Drake simply shook his head and looked away. Grayson held out his hand and helped him up. Armen still stood silently, wide eyed, hardly even focused on anything.

"Come on guys, we need to get out of here so Drake can rest. We can talk about this later, and figure out this portal issue," Grayson explained. Armen finally nodded and whispered a barely audible "Yes," before we all set out to find a nearby village. Something was wrong here. First Armen's eyes glowing white, now Drake losing control and nearly KILLING Armen... '_Something BIG is going on here, and it doesn't want us to go home_...'


End file.
